The Spaniard provided the assist for Daley Blind’s opener shortly after the restart before Ander Herrera doubled the lead from the penalty spot after being brought down in the area by young Reds defender Joe Gomez.

A spectacular strike from Christian Benteke handed the visitors a lifeline with six minutes left, however, debutant Anthony Martial made the game safe moments later as he weaved his way into the box and produced a calm finish into the bottom corner.

Victory at Old Trafford means United have won the last three meetings between the two sides and Mata, who netted three times in the two fixtures last season, hailed the importance of the latest win against the Merseyside outfit:

“I think it was one of those perfect days, and I hope we can enjoy many more in Old Trafford this season. I’m very happy for Anthony, it’s a dream debut and I’m sure this is going to be the first goal of many,” the 27-year-old wrote in his weekly blog.

“As you know, a win against Liverpool is always special.”

“It was a good game, we tried to take the initiative from the beginning and, although we didn’t create good chances in the first 45 minutes, we played almost all the time in Liverpool’s half of the pitch.”

“Daley [Blind]’s great goal unblocked the game. The explosion in Old Trafford was something very special, not easy to describe with words…,” Mata added.